When you ask “Buddy” Thompson why he took up dancing as his career, his response is immediate: “I was born to dance. I never wanted to be anything else.”

Thompson, 54, is manager and an instructor at Lee's School of Dance on West Penn Street, where the curriculum reflects lessons he has learned throughout his career.

Born George E. Thompson Jr., his family took to calling him Buddy since George Junior was the name of a nearby reform school, he joked.

Thompson credits his interest in dance to his mother, Florence.

“At age 3, my mom took me to all my lessons at Lee Garrard,” he said. “She's the one who got me interested in dancing, and I danced ever since.”

He performed in his first show when he was 14 years old. He was in the musical “Gigi” where he was part of the dance ensemble.

“To have an opportunity like that at such a young age is awesome,” Thompson said. “You couldn't pass it up.”

After graduating from Butler High School in 1975, Thompson packed his bags for New York. At 17, he lived in a little village on 8th Avenue in New York City.

“Back in my day, there was no college for dance. You either had to pursue college or dance,” Thompson said.

To pursue dance, an artist had to seek out master teachers.

“Well, you have to be good, and you have to work very hard,” Thompson said.

He studied under renowned dancers such as Luigi, Alvin Ailey, Phil Black and David Howard in New York City. He performed in musical theater shows, dance concerts and even went on some dance company tours.

In his late 20s, Thompson moved to Pittsburgh where he was a dance instructor at Carnegie Mellon University, teaching several classes in tap and jazz.

He relished the role of being on the metaphorical other side of the ballet bar.

“The number of students that have gone on to be successful in the arts or otherwise is the benefit for any educator,” Thompson said. “One year, I had a dancer in every show that was going on Broadway.”

He also taught dance at Pittsburgh's CAPA, the Creative and Performing Arts school in Pittsburgh's Cultural District for 26 years.

Thompson took his background and knowledge to Pittsburgh's CLO where he became the director of education. He also was a teacher and choreographer.

“The best part of working with kids at the Pittsburgh CLO was to see their growth and success,” he said.

While in Pittsburgh, Thompson found time to open up MURYO, his own dance company.

“Mario Melodia inspired me to open up my first dance studio,” he said. “So, I opened up MURYO, which stands for infinite value in Japanese.”

Thompson lauded education in the arts not only for its effect on those who pursue careers in the field, but for anyone because of the discipline and flexibility it teaches.

“The common thread to success is always the people who have worked the hardest,” he said.

“The arts teach you how to learn. They teach you how to listen. So, when you go into an academic course, you learn how to pick up everything.”

When Thompson was in his late 40s, he retired and moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., but dancing would come back into his life around his 50th birthday.

Lee Garrard, manager and director of Lee's School of Dance, retired after 50 years, and she asked Thompson to take over Butler's Center for the Performing Arts.

Though he had moved to Fort Lauderdale to enjoy the beach, Thompson could not refuse.

“I've always been close with Lee. She's like a second mother to me,” he said. At the end of June, Thompson became the manager of Lee's School of Dance.

“The whole process was a whirlwind for me,” he said. “It was the perfect job for me to take up, though, because I had to move back to be closer to my mother and aunt who were ill.”

Thompson, who is single, also has two sisters, Cindy and Debbie.

His main goal has been to enrich Lee's' curriculum, adding programs in voice, acting, yoga, Pilates, and musical theater.

“You should be able to go out of here and just act, sing or dance, or any combination of the three,” he said. “Or, just celebrate the fact that you're doing the best you can.”

Thompson has introduced classes for students with physical or intellectual disabilities. He enjoys watching the students blossom, he said, mentioning one young lady in a wheelchair he worked with at the studio's ballet bar.

“We are not physical therapists here. (The students) create themselves,” he said. “Those have been some amazing things.”

In August, Thompson and the studio's 11-instructor staff began renovating the facility for its 260 students.

“We really haven't stopped,” he said.

The revamped facility includes a coffee bar, Wi-Fi and flat-screen monitors for parents to watch their students in dance classes, either from the lobby or the new, adjoining salon.

As far as curriculum, the sky is truly the limit for Thompson's plans to place Lee's School of Dance at the pinnacle of performing arts schools. “There's 3,000 things racing (through my mind),” he said.

Thompson would like to see the school produce six shows next year, start a performing arts series and bring back more of his former students to teach master's classes, for starters.

One such class began March 18, when a former student and several cast members from the Broadway production of “Shrek” returned to Lee's to teach a master's class.

Thompson also said he would like to start a music therapy class for cancer survivors, in particular breast cancer.

The school's summer program will feature condensed versions of Broadway productions like “The Jungle Book,” “Bugsy Malone” and “High School Musical.”

Students will take a three-week day course and perform at Butler County Community College at its end.

Eagle staff writer Ed Biller contributed to this report.

<B>Age: </B>54<B>Address: </B>Butler<B>Family: </B>Two sisters, Cindy and Debbie<B>Education: </B>Butler High School graduate, 1975; studied dance in New York City under masters such as Luigi, Alvin Aiely, Phil Black and David Howard<B>Employment: </B>Manager, Lee’s School of Dance<B>Quote:</B> “The arts teach you how to learn, They teach you how to listen. So, when you go into an academic course, you learn how to pick up everything.”